Construction giant BESIX and partners have broken ground on the long-awaited Airport Tram that will connect Brussels-North station with Brussels Airport in just half an hour. Flemish Mobility Minister Annick De Ridder gave the formal ‘go’ on 30 March, praising the €570 million Design-&-Build project as a “sustainable mobility spine for the capital region.” Phase 1 focuses on two complex bridge structures over the congested R0 ring road and the national rail corridor; engineers will launch bridge sections without closing traffic lanes, a manoeuvre that underscores how delicate Belgian road capacity has become. Over the next three years the consortium will lay 12 km of double track, build nine stops and add 13 km of segregated cycling paths, creating a multimodal corridor that mirrors similar airport light-rail projects in Vienna and Copenhagen. Once operational, the tram will cut taxi and shuttle dependence, a boon for businesses with headquarters in the adjacent Diegem and Zaventem office parks where 60,000 staff currently rely on cars. Airport operator Brussels Airport Company expects the link to divert at least 10 percent of passenger surface trips to public transport in the first full year, helping it to meet EU “Fit for 55” emissions targets. For global-mobility teams the tram offers practical benefits: cheaper, predictable transfers for visiting executives; a new mass-transit option for assignees living downtown; and a selling point for recruitment as Brussels competes with Amsterdam and Paris for talent. Employers should note, however, that intermittent lane narrowing on the Ring will cause road congestion through 2027, warranting extra buffer time for employee shuttles.
Source: BESIX
